This invention relates generally to games of chance such as are found in casinos and other legal gambling establishments and more particularly to a gaming system which can be used to play blackjack, roulette, craps, baccarat and poker either at a table or a video machine or slot machine.
The same gaming system can be used to play any game of chance wherein the player""s chance to win is fifty percent (50%), less a reasonable house edge resulting from the inherent rules of the relevant game.
The same gaming system can be applied to the home video, home computer and arcade markets.
In those areas of the United States and the rest of the world where gambling is legal, there is a constant demand and need for new or improved games of chance to attract gamblers to casinos and other gaming establishments. At the same time, experienced players have become familiar with traditional games of chance and gaming machines such as slot machines, video games, blackjack tables, roulette tables, baccarat tables, crap tables and poker tables. Therefore, it is desirable that any new gaming machine or system, which, while taking advantage of this familiarity create new or added interest in the game.
One technique that can be used to increase the attraction of games of chance and lengthen the time in which the players will stay at a particular gaming table or casino is to base the player""s ultimate winning payoff not just on a single play of a game but on their success on repeated plays. In other words, a player is given an opportunity to increase his or her payoff odds by winning the game two, three or four consecutive times, for example. Unfortunately, using prior art gaming tables and systems, there has not been an efficient way for casinos and casino dealers to keep track of consecutive wins or losses by a player at a particular time in order to readily determine and calculate payoffs based on successive wins or losses.
What is needed, then, is a gaming method and system which can accommodate one or more gamblers while allowing for multiple play wagering, that is, where the player receives an ultimate payoff based upon achieving a preselected number of consecutive wins at the game of chance. U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,885 invented by the inventor of the present invention, teaches an electronic gaming system for playing such a game. However, it is desirable to provide a simplified, non-electronic and non-electromechanical technique for use in applications where the expense of the equipment disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,885 is not warranted. Such a simplified and yet efficient system is lacking in the prior art.
One object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive gaming method and system that allows a player to receive an enhanced payoff based on achieving a predetermined number of consecutive wins at a game of chance.
Another object of the gaming system of the present invention is to allow multiple players at a gaming table to place bets based on number of consecutive wins or losses and to provide means to easily and readily monitor the progress towards winning such bets.
In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparent below, the gaming method and system of the present invention is based on a consecutive game win/lose monitoring technique which allows an operator, such as a dealer, to keep track of each individual player""s consecutive wins or losses.
The system can be used to play conventional games of chance, such as blackjack, roulette, baccarat, craps and poker or any game of chance wherein the player""s chance to win is fifty percent (50%) less a reasonable house edge resulting from the inherent rules of the relevant game. The system can be easily incorporated with a conventional gaming table, such as blackjack, in which each player""s seating area at the table is provided with a player-specific bet selection area having marks (i.e. chip receiving regions) for receiving special markers, such as chips. The bet selection markers are used by the player to indicate how many consecutive wins that player believes he will win in order to receive an enhanced payoff, based on predetermined odds. A player also selects a bet value which, in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the system, is entered by placing a chip or chips of the desired denomination upon the desired consecutive win mark.
A plurality of chip marking locations are provided convenient to a dealer and adjacent to each player""s position about a table, such as for example a blackjack table. Chips placed on consecutive wins marks represent only the consecutive win bet. Conventional blackjack bets will continue to be made by placing a chip or chips on the betting circle or square of each player and separate from the consecutive win mark. In one preferred embodiment, up to four consecutive wins may be selected by a player. Each marker location preferably contains a number which identifies the consecutive win bet together with the odds. An original bet chip mark is also provided for the placement of the xe2x80x9cstreak chipxe2x80x9d to indicate that the player is attempting to win the first of a certain number of consecutive wins. The original bet chip mark may also be used by a casino for the player""s conventional bet.
In the play of each game, the dealer places a consecutive number of wins chip, hereinafter referred to as a xe2x80x9cstreakxe2x80x9d chip on the marker locations before the player wins the relevant game. For example, assuming that the player has selected two consecutive wins by placing a chip or chips on the consecutive wins marker bearing the number xe2x80x9c2xe2x80x9d, and, assuming the player has won the first game, the dealer pays off the original conventional bet and places the streak chip upon the chip bet by the player which is on the marker bearing the consecutive win number xe2x80x9c2xe2x80x9d, indicating that the player has won one game and will win his consecutive wins bet with one more win. If the player wins the second game, the player thus wins his second conventional bet plus his consecutive win bet. If the player loses any game before two consecutive wins, the streak chip is removed and the chips originally placed on the consecutive wins mark bearing the number xe2x80x9c2xe2x80x9d are removed.
In the event that a player selects more than two consecutive wins (i.e. three or four consecutive wins) the streak chip, after two consecutive wins is moved to the marker indicating three consecutive wins, and so forth. The streak chip and streak marker locations are designed to simplify and ease the responsibility of the dealer in the monitoring of consecutive win bets.